“We will unveil the statue of Rajiv Gandhi with the hands of Sonia Gandhi. The unveiling of the statue will be held among lakhs of Rajiv Gandhi fans”. These were the comments made by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy during the Bhoomi Puja for the statue of Rajiv Gandhi in front of the Secretariat on February 14 this year.
But on Monday, CM Revanth Reddy unveiled the statue of Rajiv Gandhi in a hurry and without time and context. None of the party top leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikharjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi, chose away from the unveiling of the former prime minister’s statue.
The move, which has triggered different speculations within Congress State unit itself, came after the party’s entire high-command kept away, despite Revath Reddy and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu personally meeting Kharge at New Delhi and inviting him to the function on August 16.
The function was actually scheduled for August 20, coinciding the former prime minister’s birth anniversary. However, that was postponed for nearly a month, and when it finally happened, except for AICC Telangana incharge Deepadas Munshi, not many national leaders turned up for the programme. Atleast, no one greeted the occasion on Twitter.
Congress high-command is said to have distanced itself to the event after the BRS has come out vociferously against the installation of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue in front of the Secretariat in the place which was originally intended for `Telugu Thalli’ statue. Opposing the Congress government’s decision, the BRS has decided to organise State-wide protests on Tuesday.
Congress circles wonder over the non-response from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, even after Revanth Reddy met them at least four times in recent times and personally invited them. But, they reportedly never showed interest to respond to his invitation. As a section of the party leadership in the state was also opposing Revanth Reddy’s unilateral decision in this regard, party high-command said to be not happy with it.
